


Challenging A Hustler

by orphan_account



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Awkwardness, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-06
Updated: 2016-08-06
Packaged: 2018-07-29 17:39:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,257
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7693474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time Sam is going to win himself some money, without Dean. Sadly he takes on the wrong person in the bar and has no idea what he got himself into.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Challenging A Hustler

The bar looked shabby, too dark and too much smoke in the air the second Sam walked through the door already – but it was the only place in town he could maybe get some money at. Cheering came from one of the corners and Sam’s eyes shifted over quickly, finding a group of mostly girls surrounding the pool table. That was what he came for, even though he didn’t expect that many eyes. With a sigh he walked over to the bar, ordered a beer and casually trotted over into the group’s direction. He didn’t draw any attention towards himself at first – which was good – so he had the chance to take a look at the players. 

One of them was your everyday guy – not outstanding in the way he looked or played it seemed. The other, however, caught Sam’s attention. The man was probably in his thirties or late twenties, with dirty blond hair and a scruff, but that wasn’t what caught Sam’s eyes. It was something else he couldn’t quite make out. Another loud round of cheering from the girls broke Sam out of his reverie and the blond man sat down on the pool table casually, smiling and twisting the cue in his long fingers.

“So, who’s next? Anyone up for a challenge?” The guy asked, a rough and deep voice that wouldn’t quite fit the face, and the girls around him laughed way too flirty. The brunet sat down his glass on the table, gaining the man’s attention. One of the girls hooked her arm around the one who just lost, shot Sam a knowing glare, and left. Sam took a bundle of dollar bills out of his pocket – fifty to be exact – and put them down on the table with a smile at the older one.

“I’ll take on you, but only if your girls give us some space.” Sam said as confident as he could, even though the smile on the others face made him a little nervous when he stood up.

“Alright then, you heard the boy. Give us some space.”

Sam swallowed nervously when the four girls started giving him glares and walked past him, leaving the blond and him alone at the table. He grabbed one of the cues at the wall and walked around the table, watching the guy set up the balls for a new game. The way his hands worked gave away that he didn’t play for fun at all and Sam started to hope the things he learned from Dean would help him out now.

“Do you want the opening break shot?” the guy asked and Sam snapped out of staring at his hands. He hadn’t even realized what he was doing and just nodded now, stepping into position. The blond leaned on his cue, watching Sam closely.

The first shot sent two balls into the far back pockets of the table, one of each type. Sam declared he’d take the striped balls and the other nodded.

“Alright, nice shot, kiddo.”

“It’s Sam and I’m not a kid.” Sam stood straight, trying to look intimidating and self-confident, but the blond just laughed at his posture.

“Whatever you say, _kiddo_.” He smirked and searched for a good position to start his own turn. “You can call me Lucifer.”

“ _Lucifer_?” Sam huffed and raised a brow. “What are you, the devil?”

The blond looked over his shoulder, giving Sam such an intense look that something in his stomach twisted. Those blue eyes pierced right through his very soul and Sam’s face flushed red. Lucifer, however, didn’t say a word and returned his attention to the white ball again and immediately sent two more down the pockets. Sam swallowed and watched almost terrified how Lucifer managed to get three more balls safe before missing a shot and smirked at him.

“Regret your decision already?” Lucifer cocked and Sam gave him a half-hearted side glare.

“Never.” He huffed and examined the table to find the right spot for his shot. Sadly, Lucifer had managed to block almost all of his balls except from one and Sam cursed himself for not practicing more often. It didn’t help much that Lucifer moved very close to him, but Sam did his best to concentrate on the cue. With a failed push shot he failed his chance though and groaned frustrated when the ball jumped back from the wall.

“Not your best night, kiddo.”

Sam gritted his teeth and watched his money go down the drain as Lucifer pocketed one ball after another. He almost wanted to cry when Lucifer ended the game flawlessly and he just stood there and stared as the blond shoved his money into his own pocket.

“Well, better luck next time, I guess.”

“Yeah…” Sam mumbled, unable to believe he had been dumb enough to challenge Lucifer in the first place. He dropped the cue onto the table, not even bothering putting it back where it belonged, and grabbed his glass. Without even looking back at the other Sam left the table, still trying to process that he just lost the last bit of money he had on himself. One of the booths in the far back of the bar was empty and Sam simply plopped onto the seats and laid his arms on the table to hide his face.

Dean would be furious! The first time Sam went out alone to earn some money and he had to completely fuck up. He should have went for Black Jack or Poker instead, at least he could count cards partially, so he would have had a chance. But no, Sam Winchester had to prove himself of course…

“Hey, kiddo. Waiting for someone?” A familiar voice sounded and Sam grunted without looking up.

“Get lost, I’m not in the mood for lame jokes.”

Instead of leaving – of _course_ – Lucifer sat down in front of Sam and chuckled. At this, the brunet looked up and shot him a deadly glare.

“What do you want?” he hissed.

“No need to be all grumpy, kiddo.” Lucifer said and sipped on his beer. Sam watched cautiously how he slid the bundle he had just won across the table and sat up, eyeing him closely.

“What’s that?”

“I can’t rip someone off their last money. Not my style.” Lucifer shrugged. “Besides, you seem to need it more than I do.”

“I lost, you won. You _earned_ it.”

“Listen, kiddo. I can take the money and leave you in whatever misery is going to come for you if you lose it, or you can take it back and I’ll pay you a beer. Your choice.”

Sam had no idea why the hell this guy would offer not only to give him his money back, but also pay him another beer, but he was not a complete idiot, so much he knew. Carefully he pulled the money out from under Lucifer’s fingers and put it back into the pocket of his jeans.

“Thank you, I guess?” he felt a little weird after what happened before, but Lucifer seemed to be pretty cool with it.

“Don’t, you were no match for me.” Lucifer said, scratching on Sam’s pride so he frowned, and waved one of the girls from before over to the table. Surprisingly, he ordered two beer and two shots for them, to which Sam was even more confused than before – especially when the girl walked behind the bar.

“She _works_ here?”

“Who, Meg? Oh yes, she is just for effect.” Lucifer chuckled. “They all are.”

“Wow…” Sam had no idea what to say to this. He had expected those adoring and flirting looks to be real, but in reality they just faked them for, what, luring guys in? He was completely at a loss of words. Meg came over pretty quickly with Lucifer’s order and winked at Sam before leaving, to which Lucifer grinned and shoved a beer and one of the shots over to him.

“They get paid, they help me get attention. Win-win for everyone.”

“I thought they were your girls actually.” Sam mumbled and finished his first beer before pushing the bottle away. “They looked like they couldn’t wait for you to leave with them.”

“Yikes, no way!” Lucifer said quickly, shaking his head. “Not my type at all, trust me.”

Sam huffed, but didn’t answer. Something about this guy was very strange. First he had been so full of himself and now he was almost… nice? Well, not exactly nice, he was still a little arrogant in Sam’s eyes, but he didn’t want to punch him anymore at least.

“So, tell me, kiddo. Why are you trying to hustle without having a chance?”

Sam almost choked on his beer at this question and looked up at Lucifer as if he was caught red handed.

“Excuse me?”

“Don’t get me wrong, you’re not _bad_ , but… challenging _me_? Really? That’s kinda suicidal, don’t you think?”

“I didn’t _knew_ you’d stomp me into the ground, for starters.” Sam actually laughed at this, not even sure why. “God, I must have looked like a complete fool before!”

“More like a lost puppy.” Lucifer smirked and sipped from his bottle. “I actually thought you would start crying when I won.”

“Yeah, right.” Sam rolled his eyes overdramatically, hoping he would be able to hide that Lucifer was closer to the truth than he admitted. “As if I’d cry in front of a hustler.”

“Well, one way or another, I enjoyed it. Might have been the most fun game tonight.”

Sam smirked, not quite believing that, but still kind of eased. Maybe Lucifer wasn’t as bad as he thought he’d be. After all, he did give him his money back even if he didn’t have to.

“Thanks anyways. I learned my lesson: never think you’re better than someone you don’t know.” Sam finally said and looked down at the shot Lucifer ordered. From the smell he could tell that it was vodka and he felt the sudden urge to just empty it, but that would’ve been rude towards the blond.

“I think the lesson was: Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Lucifer shrugged and grabbed for his own glass, lifting it. “But whatever works for you, I guess. Cheers.”

“Cheers.” Sam smiled and tipped his own glass against Lucifer’s before bringing it to his lips and emptying it in one gulp. He exhaled sharply when he put it down, trying not to give away that he wasn’t that much of a heavy drinker.

“You know, I think you got some talent there.” Lucifer suddenly said and Sam forgot the burn in his throat. “A little practice and you could be really good.”

“Right…” Sam scoffed. “My brother said I’d better keep counting cards.”

“I could show you some tricks?” Lucifer suggested and waved a hand. “Just as a small apology for destroying you so flawlessly.”

“You screwed up a shot.”

“You only had one good shot.”

The two looked at each other for a moment before both starting to laugh. Damn, Lucifer had a point, Sam couldn’t deny it. Apart from the first shot he fucked up completely and it _was_ kind of funny when he thought about it.

“So, what do you think? Want me to show you some shots?”

“Hell, why not.” Sam shrugged and grabbed his bottle. “It’s not like I embarrassed myself enough for one night already.”

Lucifer just grinned at that and followed Sam back to the table, his sheer presence shushing away the two guys setting it up for a new game. He took over after putting his beer down and Sam sipped from his own, watching the blond.

“See, you’re good with breaking shots, but you lack finesse.” Lucifer explained after finishing the setup and got a cue he handed him. “Do the same shot again, but with a little more power behind it.”

Sam nodded, getting into position and focusing on the white ball in front of him.

“Think before shooting. You gotta know how the balls will react before you make a move.” Lucifer’s voice was different now, softer than before, and Sam took a deep breath, nodding again.

This time he managed to get three balls in at the first shot and Lucifer patted his shoulder proudly.

“Very good. Now, which one would you play next?”

Sam thought about this, eyeing the table closely. It took him a minute examining the whole situation before he walked around the table and pointed at the yellow ball.

“This one. It’s a safe shot, it will go in.”

“Okay, try your luck.”

Lucifer leaned back when Sam got into position, flawlessly pocketing the yellow ball – and the white one too. Frustrated, Sam cussed and in front of him Lucifer laughed silently.

“Safe, huh?” he asked and took the two balls back out to put them where they had been before. “You gotta do a _draw_ when the white one is that close, to draw it back to you. But you missed your best chance, look at that.” Lucifer pointed at two balls a little away, both close to a hole but far away from each other. “Now, if you cut those balls you can get them both in and the white one will easily roll into place for your next shot, look.”

Sam handed Lucifer the cue, not sure what exactly he meant, but curious to see what would happen. Lucifer aimed at the white ball, hitting it with force so it easily stayed on the track while cutting both of the other balls and sending them right where he wanted them to be. Sam was stunned.

“See? It’s easy. Wanna try it yourself?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Lucifer set the balls back up just the way they had been before, but when Sam took the cue and got into position he didn’t just watch – instead he stepped behind the brunet and wrapped his arms around him to cover his hands with his own. Sam immediately stiffened at the touch, looking over his shoulder.

“Relax, kiddo.” Lucifer smiled, closing his hands around Sam’s a little more. “I’ll guide you, okay?”

Sam tried to relax as Lucifer said, but it was very hard with the blondes body pressed against his own that much. He felt nervous being so close to him, but not in a bad way at all, which made this all so much more surreal. It was hard to keep his hands from sweating this way and focusing on the ball was even more difficult.

“Just breathe, it’s all good.” Lucifer said quietly and Sam nodded, exhaling and inhaling slowly.

Lucifer indeed guided his movements with his hands and this time he managed to get one of the balls in and the second so close it almost fell over the edge. Sam could barely stop himself from jumping up and cheering – instead he turned around and smiled brightly at Lucifer.

“I almost did it!”

“Of course you did, Sam.” Lucifer smiled back and Sam blinked surprised – so surprised, in fact, that he forgot Lucifer was actually spooning him right now.

Lucifer had called him ‘Sam’, not ‘kiddo’. He had no idea why, but he liked the sound of his own name coming from the others lips.

They spent two hours like this, Lucifer showing Sam how to succeed with shots that got more difficult over time and then guiding his movements until he got the hang of it. The first few times felt weird, but Sam actually started liking how patient and gentle Lucifer was when he helped him – two or three more beers definitely helped taking the awkwardness of the situation away too. When they finally walked back over to the booth Sam was slightly tipsy and highly entertained – and very intrigued by Lucifer himself.

“Next time you’re challenging your brother, I’m sure he will be surprised how good you really are.” Lucifer said and Sam giggled behind his hand.

“Give or take that he’ll ask me how I got better.” He smirked and looked up into the bright blue eyes of the blond. “I can’t really tell him I lost my money and the devil had pity on me, you know.”

“You think I pity you?” Lucifer asked and raised a brow, almost offended. “I don’t _pity_ you, Sam.”

“Why _did_ you give me my money back then?” Sam wondered curious.

Lucifer took his bottle, spun it between his hands for a moment, and then looked up at Sam with a stern look on his face.

“I like you, Sam. You have balls, kid. Screw your brother if he thinks you don’t.”

Sam smirked weakly at the other.

“Try telling him that, please.” He sighed eventually and pushed the bottle away from himself so it stood in the middle of the table, next to Lucifer’s. “I’ll always be the dumb kid for him, no matter what I do.”

Much to Sam’s surprise a strong hand covered his own suddenly, fingers brushing over his skin and sending a slight shiver through his nerves at the cold and tender touch.

“Look at me and tell me I’m lying, Sam.” Lucifer said and without hesitation Sam’s eyes locked with his. “You are not a little kid, you are a fighter and you can do whatever you want to do.”

“What makes you so sure of that?” Sam wanted to believe what Lucifer said, really _wanted_ to, but how could he if Lucifer – whom he barely knew for a few hours – put more faith in him than his own _brother_?

“Because you _know_ I’m right. Deep inside you _know_ the truth.”

Sam smiled and his eyes dropped down to Lucifer’s hand covering his own, wondering how and why he was right. He had thought Lucifer was an asshole and a jerk, but he was actually one of the nicest people he had ever met. It almost made him sad to know they’d never see each other again.

“Thank you, I mean it.” He finally said and shook his head. “I’m such a chick sometimes, I know. But I promise the next time I’ll challenge him I’m going to remember what you taught me.”

“Good.” Lucifer sighed and squeezed his hand slightly before letting go of it. “If you are still around, just come by tomorrow. We two might actually get a lot of people to lose their money to us.”

“Yeah, because I’m as good as those girls you had around you before.” Sam chuckled amused. The thought was laughable to his clouded mind and he wondered if Lucifer was serious when he stood up. “I should get back home, my brother will wonder where the hell I am.”

Lucifer got up too and before Sam was able to walk away he grabbed his wrist and held him back. A little confused the younger one turned around and looked at him, finding a soft and affectionate warm gaze.

“Come back tomorrow, Sam.” Lucifer almost purred, his thumb stroking over Sam’s palm – a gesture so kind and gentle that it made the brunet blush and his head spin slightly. “ _Please_.”

“Okay…” Sam whispered without even thinking about an answer – just this one word was enough to make it impossible to deny Lucifer’s request. He had a hard time not losing himself in the others mesmerizing eyes or in the way his grip on him loosened and turned into nothing more than a gentle way of preventing Sam from leaving.

“Promised?” Lucifer asked, a smile curling around his lips that infected Sam easily.

“ _Promised_.”


End file.
